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Approved Council Motions 2024/25

Council meeting 24 October 2024

Proposer: Councillor Robb Seconder: Councillor Powell

Lead officer: Deputy Chief Executive – Partnerships

Council notes:

  • The Water Industry Act 1991 gives government the power to place water companies into Special Administration where they are either in financial distress or have breached their licence or statutory duties to a degree that makes it inappropriate for the company to continue operating.
  • Sewage treatment works in South Oxfordshire have released untreated sewage into the River Thames or its tributaries for more than 15,500 hours so far this year. Almost two thirds – 157 – of all Thames Water’s sewage treatment works are potentially non-compliant with their permits.
  • Thames Water loses around one quarter of its drinking water to its own leaks.
  • The company is struggling to service its £18bn debt mountain and this year has had its debt downgraded to “junk” by credit ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

This council:

  1. Declares it has no confidence in Thames Water;
  2. Calls on government to exercise its powers under the Water Industry Act 1991, and place Thames Water and other failing water companies in Special Administration to protect the public interest;
  3. Calls on government to end the failed experiment of privatisation and bring Thames Water back into public control;
  4. Supports calls by grassroots campaign organisations to amend the Water (Special Measures) Bill currently progressing through Parliament to: Stop the public bailout of the water industry proposed under s10 of the Bill; Reform the duties of Ofwat to be for the interests of the public and nature; Re-democratise water by having employees, billpayers and council appointees on the boards of all water companies in England.

Update: lead officers informed

Council meeting 24 October 2024

Proposer: Councillor Giles Seconder: Councillor Rawlins

Lead officer: Head of Policy and Programmes

This Council notes that:

  • Pubs across the UK are closing at an alarming rate, estimated to be around 80 per month, owing to a combination of economic, regulatory, and social factors.
  • Rising costs, including taxes, energy costs, and business rates, significantly reduce the sustainability of pubs, particularly impacting smaller, independent establishments.
  • Complex licensing and bureaucratic requirements can create additional burdens for pubs, which could be exacerbated by overzealous Government public health requirements.
  • Property speculators often target pub buildings for redevelopment, leading to the loss of vital community spaces.
  • According to South Oxfordshire CAMRA, across England, nominations for assets of community value have a success rate of 83%, yet for the five years to October 2023 this figure was just 26% in South Oxfordshire, although it has improved over the past year.

This Council believes that:

  • Pubs are a crucial part of the UK’s cultural heritage and community life, providing important social hubs and combating loneliness.
  • Pubs are significant employers, particularly for young people and those in rural areas, as well as contributing to the local economy from their supply chain.
  • Comprehensive action is needed to support pubs in South Oxfordshire and mitigate the financial pressures they face, ensuring their survival for future generations.

This Council resolves to:

  1. Reaffirm its support for the motion passed on 25 March 2021, which stated that the council “will use all its available powers, where appropriate, to support communities in their efforts to retain pubs”, especially when there has been a “submission of a nomination as an Asset of Community Value or opposition to a planning application for change of use”.
  2. Ask the Leader to write to the Chancellor ahead of the Autumn Budget, advocating for the reduction of taxes on sales in pubs, as well as extending the hospitality business rates relief scheme.
  3. Ask the Leader to write to the Deputy Prime Minister to: seek clarification that the national planning use class system has stringent mechanisms in place to prevent pubs being converted into other commercial or residential uses without explicit community support; seek clarification that the national planning system ensures truly independently verified viability evidence is required for pubs being put up for change of use, including appropriate marketing and community engagement exercises; offer support for the proposed community ‘right to buy’ for pubs indicated in the Kings Speech.
  4. Review existing Council pub licensing policies and, where appropriate, change requirements that disproportionately impact smaller establishments.
  5. Review the guidelines for nomination as Assets of Community Value to reflect decisions of the First-Tier Tribunal on appeals against listing.

Update: The Leader wrote to the Chancellor. A copy of the letter can be seen here. The Leader wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister. A copy of the letter can be seen here.

Council meeting 24 October 2024

Proposer: Councillor Powell Seconder: Councillor Barker

Lead officer: Head of Finance

Council resolves:

That Council welcomes the new government’s manifesto commitment to multiyear funding settlements and an end to wasteful competitive bidding for local government. The uncertainty around funding has compounded the pressures already in the system due to underfunding. Competitive bidding has stressed already overstretched officer capacity and council resources, and even successful bids have often come with conditions and time scales that hamper delivery. A completely new relationship is needed to put council funding on a secure and sustainable footing, one which recognises that, as the recent Localis Report says ‘Local government has the potential to play a crucial role in overcoming the immediate challenges and charting a course to national prosperity, if an enabling policy and funding framework is put in place’.

Council supports the thrust of the LGA White Paper when it calls for:

  • An equal, respectful partnership between local and national government.
  • Sufficient and sustainable funding.
  • Backing local government as place leaders.
  • A new focus on prevention and services for the wider community.
  • Innovation and freedom from bureaucracy.

We ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister to stress the need for an urgent review of local government funding, together with an assurance that the next settlement will deliver levels of sufficient and sustainable funding that will enable;

  • Proper resourcing of core services so that councils can continue to be effective leaders in developing locally sustainable places better for residents.
  • The delivery of statutory services (especially those creating the most pressure on council finances, such as the provision of waste management), to an acceptable standard without requiring reductions in other services, particularly non-statutory ones such as net zero work.
  • Sufficient funding to protect and restore other services and facilities which are still vital to our community such as sports, arts, leisure and wellbeing services.

Council also believes that these resources should not be found solely from increases in the outdated, unfair and inflexible council tax. Funding local services and infrastructure will stimulate local prosperity so should not be delayed by waiting for national GDP increases

Update: Lead officers informed

Council meeting 24 October 2024

Proposer: Councillor Gordon-Creed Seconder: Councillor Worgan

Lead officer: Head of Policy and Programmes

Council resolves:

  • That the Mission Zero Coalition has stated that “The quickest, cheapest and fairest route to net-zero is through local authorities.”  As analysis has shown, local-led action could save the UK £140bn in reaching net-zero compared to a top-down approach, while delivering almost double the energy savings and social benefits”.
  • Similarly, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has found that supporting a local approach for delivering net zero by 2050 would be at half the cost of a national approach and would deliver three times the financial returns to our communities.
  • We agree that local delivery of net zero is essential to the UKs commitments to net zero by 2050 and to 68% emissions reductions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
  • We further note that, when it comes to adaptation, the LGA states that “Nationally we are not sufficiently prepared for the impacts of climate change, and central government must prioritise its work with local government to close this gap.” We further note that “For many climate impacts it is the most vulnerable in society that will be most impacted and have the least ability to adapt” (CCC: The Just Transition and Climate Change Adaptation).
  • We welcome the creation of a Nature and Climate Action Plan, which will embed the recently revised targets of reaching Net Zero within our own operations by 2030 and across the wider community by 2045, 5 years ahead of the Government’s target.
  • We therefore call on the new Government to deliver a new partnership deal between councils and Government that will enable councils and local communities to accelerate local decarbonisation and adaptation.

This council resolves to:

  1. Ask Cabinet to consider the use of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) targets and reporting to deliver and monitor our carbon emissions reduction targets for Council and District emissions.
  2. Consider innovative financing options to deliver the climate action that we need to meet our targets, to support a just transition for our residents and to support local efforts on climate adaptation.
  3. Ask the Leader to write to the Secretary of State to request that all Local Authorities are given the statutory duties, powers and funding to enable them to deliver locally for a Net Zero transition in line with the UKs legal commitments.

Update: The Leader wrote to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. A copy of the letter can be seen here.